Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton" or the "Corporation"), is pleased to report that Vaaldiam Resources Ltd. ("Vaaldiam") has commenced the collection of a 100 tonne bulk sample from the surface of the Artemisia kimberlite on the Kim property in the Coronation Gulf region of Nunavut.

As announced on July 17, 2006, Ashton has granted Vaaldiam an exclusive option to acquire a 40 percent joint venture interest in Ashton's wholly-owned Coronation Gulf properties, including the Kim property, by sole-funding the next $3.0 million of exploration costs before December 31, 2008, of which $1.0 million must be spent by December 31, 2006. 

The 100 tonne bulk sample represents part of the first work program undertaken by Vaaldiam to earn this interest. Additional exploration activities contemplated by the agreement include sampling the other known kimberlites and investigating more than 10 unexplained indicator mineral anomalies.

"Given the large size of the sample, Vaaldiam has done a great job of initiating this program in a very short period of time," said Robert T. Boyd, Ashton's President and CEO. "We are very pleased to collaborate with Vaaldiam to advance the exploration of our promising Coronation Gulf properties while we concentrate our resources on the Foxtrot project in Quebec and our other exploration initiatives."

The Artemisia kimberlite has an estimated surface expression of three hectares. As Ashton reported on July 31, 2002, an 11 tonne mini-bulk sample collected from this body returned an estimated diamond content of 10.7 carats per hundred tonnes.

Ashton Mining of Canada Inc., the leader in Canadian diamond exploration.

Ashton is widely recognized as the leading and pre-eminent explorer in the Canadian diamond industry. The Corporation enjoys an outstanding record of discoveries and a diversified portfolio of promising projects that cover the spectrum from early stage reconnaissance to advanced evaluation. At present, Ashton's most ambitious project is in Quebec, where a $29 million program is currently underway to collect a 10,000 tonne bulk sample from three of the highly diamondiferous Renard kimberlitic bodies. The sample is expected to yield at least 6,000 carats of diamonds from the processing of approximately 6,000 tonnes of kimberlitic material. These diamonds will be valued during the first half of 2007 in preparation for a pre-feasibility study.

Ashton's competitive advantages include the extensive diamond exploration experience and the recognzied expertise of its key personnel, as well as the Corporation's comprehensive diamond processing and laboratory facilities in North Vancouver, B.C. Integral to Ashton's exploration programs, these facilities include a five tonne per hour dense media separation plant, an X-ray sorter unit, a caustic dissolution circuit and a fully-equipped indicator mineral and diamond observation laboratory.

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